Oolite sand issue

[hunggi74]

Hi. i have a 57g tank. I'm starting my cycle and put 40lbs of caribsea oolite sugar fine sand on top of 30lbs of coarser grain sand. After waiting for the initial sandstorm to settle I proceeded to turn on my powerheads and the sand blew everywhere. I tried only turning on the koralia 1050gph and pointing it upwards towards the surface of the water and it was still picking up the sand on the floor and blowing it around. I am able to turn my MP10 on but only about a third of the way up power wise before it also blows the sand around. It doesn't matter if I set it on pulse or reef crest modes. I've read that it takes awhile before bacteria will grow and coat the sand with a film that helps it stay in place. This would require me to have no Powerheads on in my tank during the cycle. im also worried about my return line from my eheim 1260 blowing the sand around when i start it up. I've also been told by my LFS to empty the water, take out the base rock, scoop out the sugar sand and add Fiji pink coarser grade sand and putting everything back in. Is this advice sound? Are there any alternatives?

[bnumair]

i always start a tank and give it about 2-3 weeks to settle before turning all powerheads on. usually through cycle u can leave the power heads off and just run the return and dial them and place them in a way that sand doesnt get effected.
i am not sure with taking all sand out and placing it back. i dont see how it could help.

[hollister]

Powerheads on is good. It helps create a gas exchange at the surface bringing in oxygen and removing unwanted nitrogen. A HOB bio filter would help remove the fine debris and clean the water up....

[thegrun]

I suspect you are going to have long term issues with the oolite sand blowing around. You could siphon out the top layer and replace it with coarser sand.

[drillsar]

Correct me if im wrog but wouldnt bacteria help settle the sand in time? Since this tank is new there is hardly no bacteria so the saind has nothing holding it.

[bnumair]

that is true that is why i dont subject sand to heavy flow till its settled in.
infact here is a note from one very reputable website vendor.
>For best results Rinse well before use and allow sand to liven before introducing to turbulent flow.

[worm5406]

I agree to most of that... but look at this:
Jump to 1 minute and watch from there forward.

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RKEXIk8p1RA" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" width="640"></iframe>

In this tank at the start I had a Quiet One Pro Aquarium Pump 6000. It was just tossed in the tank with the flow set across the front.

What was put in the tank was oolite, original grade, and pink fuji.

The quietone has a flow rate of 1664 at zero head. Well this had zero head.

Yeah it was slightly angled up.. but watch the flow. You can see the heater move quiet a bit in the tank. If you look closley at 3 minutes you can see the sand dunes getting pushed around. So you know it was not exactly nice and smooth to let the particles settle.

This video was over a 18 hour peroid.

about 6-7min I was headed to work then I came back after. The LONG gap was when I was asleep.

It cleared like it was supposed to do.

This was bagged sand with NO wash/rinse. Fresh rock and everything. It was right at the start of the cycle and the sump was not even made up yet. No seed rock or sand yet. I did end up adding some after the sump was in place.

[hunggi74]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I had time today so I drained all the water out into a tub and took the Marco rock out as well. I scooped as much if the oolite sand as I could and then put another 30lbs of Fiji pink on top. Rocks and water are back in and ill see if the tank gas cleared up by the time I get home. Should I wait til all tge sand is settled before firing up the return pump or should I go ahead and start? I think I'll leave my powerheads off for a week and just let the returns provide flow for now?